You know how Apple makes most of its gear in far-off lands where the people that build them make shamefully little? We always assumed that it had to be like that for Apple to run a successful business. Turns out, that's not the case at all.

A new study from the University of Manchester's Center for Research on Socio-Cultural Change claims that even if Apple shifted all of its manufacturing over to the U.S. it would still maintain gross margins of 50 percent. In other words, it would be creating tens of thousands of jobs, boosting the U.S. economy, and it would still be making boat loads of cash. Sounds like a good deal all around, right?

Here's the thing, though: it will never, ever happen.

Why? Because Apple is a publicly owned company. That means that Apple has a responsibility to its shareholders, and that responsibility includes making stupid amounts of money for them. Maaaaaybe if they were a private company, heard the voice of god, and suddenly became incredibly altruistic, but, well, that's not Apple. Still, it's a very interesting read and it really makes one think about our economy. Our stupid, horrible, doomed economy. [CReSC via Cult of Mac]